Scan barcode
gold_star_reader's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Very informative and interesting read. Growing up and going to the Mutter Museum, it was really interesting to learn more!
palindromephd's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting and fairly entertaining, especially having been to the museum and as a resident of Philadelphia. However, suffered from making the main subject into something more than a man and also diverging far too frequently into long and only mildly interesting other happenings in medicine at the time. Also, why do so many historical-type books insist on both direct quotes from source material and then summarizing the quote at length? Makes everything very repetitive.
emilybryk's review against another edition
2.0
Deeply frustrating. Mutter is pretty generally absent from a lot of historical records, and that makes it difficult to assemble a thorough biography of him. Despite gamely trying to piece together what she can, Ms. Aptowicz doesn't really gather enough to flesh out an entire book.
readermeginco's review against another edition
4.0
Based on the cover and title, I would have expected this to be more about Dr. Mutter's amazing collection of medical oddities. Instead, it was a biography of the surgical pioneer himself, as well as a terrific history of 19th century medicine. Still, a fascinating read for anyone interested in just how scary medicine was in the pre-American Civil War era.
dramatrice's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful book about medicine just hitting the modern age, gorgeous illustrations, fascinating characters and incredibly well researched. Need to make a trip to Philadelphia now!
courtsport3000's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really cool read that teaches a lot about the roots of modern medicine and the man who kickstarted it all. The text provides a lot of insight into where we started and how that directly leads to where we are today, which was simultaneously fascinating and appalling. Some sections felt a teensy bit dry or long-winded, but generally this is very readable nonfiction.
Highly recommend the print version because it includes tons of helpful illustrations and diagrams.
Highly recommend the print version because it includes tons of helpful illustrations and diagrams.